ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The woman accused of driving drunk and killing a father and son in a crash while they were visiting UCF from Colorado previously faced deportation in a dropped child abuse case, according to court documents.
Leslie Gehret, 40, was arrested earlier this week after the fatal crash on Lake Underhill Road at Rouse Road. The father and son, 50-year-old Shane Lloyd and 19-year-old Jakob Lloyd, were traveling in a Kia when Gehret ran a red light and slammed into the right side of the vehicle.
This marks the third arrest for Gehret in Orange County since December 2019, which included an arrest in an aggravated battery and child abuse case that was eventually dropped, records show. In that case, prosecutors offered a plea deal that would give her probation and included a deportation clause.
Here’s what records show:
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Aggravated battery, child abuse arrest - December 2019
According to an arrest affidavit, Gehret’s boyfriend at the time told deputies that one of the children in the home told him Gehret “beat her with a belt on her head.” At one point, Gehret was handed water in a glass-measuring cup that she used to hit her boyfriend in the forehead with, the affidavit shows.
While her boyfriend declined to press charges, Gehret was still held in jail on no bond. She was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and child abuse. She was also charged with violation of pretrial release when she contacted one of the victims after her arrest.
In April 2020, Gehret agreed to plead no contest to the charges. Part of the plea deal where Gehret signed her initials included a clause that said, “I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, I WILL be deported. I have also had a meaningful opportunity to consult with an attorney(s) regarding deportation. I understand that no attorney(s) nor judge can advise/guarantee that I will or will not be deported.”
She was given no additional prison time in the plea deal and sentenced to five years of drug offender probation and substance abuse treatment.
Her sentencing in the plea deal was signed and approved by a judge in April 2020.
A month later in May 2020, Gehret’s immigration attorney filed a motion on her behalf to withdraw her no contest plea to the charges due to her criminal defense attorney not going over the full terms of the deal and that it was made “involuntary.”
“Defense counsel did not inform Ms. Gehret about possible defenses but instead, instructed Ms. Gehret that her only option would be to accept the plea. Critically, at no point in time did defense counsel inform Ms. Gehret that she would be deported if she accepted the plea. Rather, defense counsel merely informed Ms. Gehret that she would be deportable if she accepted the plea,” the motion reads.
The motion also claimed Gehret’s criminal defense attorney “encouraged Ms. Gehret to accept the plea by advising her that even if she were to get deported for these charges, the process would be lengthy and would most likely take a number of years.”
Her immigration attorney also cited the arrest report incorrectly listed her as a U.S. citizen despite her being born in Germany.
Eventually, the court granted Gehret’s plea withdrawal in August 2020, which eliminated the deportation against her. The charges were dropped in December 2020.
News 6 asked the state attorney’s office about the previous administration’s decision-making at the time.
“At the time we were unable to proceed with the 2019 case to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, so the case had to be dismissed,” a spokesperson for the office said.
News 6 also requested additional records that contain the prosecutor’s notes on file. They revealed the victims did not want to testify and wanted the case dismissed. They had “moved on with their lives” and they no longer wanted anything to do with the case.
At the time, court records show Gehret already had credit for the 64 days of jail time included in her initial sentence before her plea was withdrawn.
DUI arrest - July 2022
Gehret was arrested on DUI in Orlando after driving recklessly in the area of Colonial Drive and Coy Road, according to an affidavit.
Officers found her in her Jeep on the side of the road, where they spoke with her and could “smell a strong odor of alcohol.”
In this case, there was no damage to any property or other drivers.
Gehret signed another agreement in February 2023, pleading no contest to the DUI charge, a second-degree misdemeanor. Court records show she was represented by the same attorney who brought up her immigration status in the 2019 case, and this time he made no mention of any issues based on an audio recording of the sentencing obtained by News 6.
Gehret was sentenced to one year of probation and her license was also suspended for six months, according to court records.
Five months later, she would be arrested again after the crash that killed Jakob Lloyd and his father.
Gehret remains in the Orange County Jail on multiple charges, including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, two prior convictions of DUI, violation of probation and driving with a suspended license.
News 6 reached out to the attorneys representing Gehret in the 2019 and 2022 cases and has yet to hear back.
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